President Lee Jae Myung speaks with Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Korea has partnered with Google DeepMind for expanded international cooperation to advance the nation’s synthetic intelligence (AI) ecosystem and promote the accountable use of associated applied sciences, the federal government mentioned Monday.
The cooperation will assist facilitate Korea’s “K-Moonshot” mission, which brings collectively AI and science capabilities to deal with main nationwide challenges, in response to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, visited Korea Monday and met President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae earlier than assembly Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon on the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seoul later within the day to signal a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The conferences got here as Korea strives to turn out to be one of many world’s high three AI powerhouses, alongside the United States and China.
“The meeting is an extension of the government’s global AI cooperation efforts and will serve as an opportunity to further accelerate policy through collaboration with a world-leading AI company,” the presidential workplace mentioned.
Google DeepMind heralded the beginning of what’s now acknowledged as the fashionable period of AI in 2016, when AlphaGo, a Go-playing AI, captured a 4–1 victory in opposition to world-class Korean grasp Lee Se-dol in a five-game match in Seoul. The recreation of Go is understood domestically as “baduk,” and the signing ceremony occurred in the identical venue the place the video games between Lee and AlphaGo had been held in 2016.
The firm subsequently demonstrated the potential of AI purposes in science and expertise by way of AlphaFold. AlphaFold’s achievement in fixing the long-standing problem of protein construction prediction led to Hassabis being collectively awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2024.
DeepMind’s work corresponds with the objectives of the Ok-Moonshot mission, which goals to make use of AI expertise for the betterment of the nation. The authorities seeks to make use of the mission to boost analysis productiveness to the world’s fifth-highest degree by 2030 and use AI to deal with 12 nationwide missions by 2035, in areas together with superior biotechnology, vitality, house and semiconductors.
The MOU outlined key areas of cooperation, together with joint AI analysis in science and expertise, AI talent growth and the accountable use of AI.
“If AlphaGo opened the era of AI a decade ago, we are now entering a stage where AI is solving complex challenges in science and technology and having a tangible impact on people’s lives,” Bae remarked.
He mentioned the MOU will “serve as a key opportunity for the two organizations to cooperate in accelerating AI-driven innovation in science and technology centered on Korea’s K-Moonshot.”
The minister also expressed hope that the agreement will “promote safe and responsible AI research and the spread of best practices.”
Hassabis was quoted by the ministry as saying, “Korea has become a very special place for Google since the historic AlphaGo match.”
He explained that Google is beginning a new journey to expand the frontiers of bio innovation and weather forecasting, while also working as a partner to help build safeguards that ensure AI develops responsibly.
Hassabis was the latest among high-profile AI business leaders whom the president has met, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, SoftBank Group’s Masayoshi Son and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, as part of efforts to bolster cooperation and attract investment.